New Lounge #172

Good grief, how did we get 38 posts on 171 before any of us noticed? Well, just goes to show ya that we were having such a good time. It's like when we sit on the Balcony and, all of a sudden, our "coffee breakfast" has lasted til noon. Yikes!

"Hiegh-ho! come to the fair!"
The drums are all beating, away let us go,
Heigh-ho! come to the fair!

There'll be racing and chasing from morning till night,
And round-abouts turning to left and to right,
So it's come then, maidens and men,
To the fair in the pride of the morning
So lock up your house, there'll be plenty of fun,
And it's heigh-ho! come to the fair!

We used to sing that in the High School Choir. The words were written by an English
lady named Helen Taylor. She also wrote the words for "Bless This House".

Well, went to see the chiro. He couldn't do much because my back was in an Ouch! mode.
We decided to try a lumbar support. Gordon went out and bought one from a medical supply
house. $38.50. Gordon said, "Can't you do better than that?" So they reduced the price to $35.
I think that's about a 7% reduction.

If you're wondering what a lumbar support is, it's a wide elastic belt. It does make me feel
less likely to collapse.

Ya know, Mikie, if we ever want to start another thread, we could always call it the Balcony. I
haven't checked, but I suspect "balcony" is an Italian word. They would pronounce it
"Bal-con-ee" with the accent on the middle syllable.

I hope the lumbar support makes you feel better. I've been wearing my $5 neoprene wide belt with velcroe from the exercise dept. at Marshalls. Probably not nearly as good as yours is but I find it makes me perspire which is a good thing and gives me a little support. Moist heat heals faster than a dry heat. My poor dad always had a hurting back (could be I inherited some bad genes) and he wore a thing of torture back in the early 60s with steel stays in it.

Balcony is a good idea but I hate to mess with history and change something started by someone else. Also, I get confused as it is so if we had a Balcony here and one here in the hood, I'd probably be permanently lost Our Balcony runs the upper length of our bldg. We have enclosed balconies on the back of our units which look out over our pond and fountain. Of course, they don't call them balconies or patios. They pretentiously refer to them as Lanais as though we live in Hawaii. Well, I found this strange when I moved here; in fact, I found everything strange when I moved here. Now, it just seems normal.

When I worked at Publix, they gave me a lumbar support belt. It's a very nice one I still use if I'm standing a lot. I want to get the sewing machine out and close up the bottom of a couple of the open net areas of the belt. It would be perfect to insert ice gel bags into. I've been told not to wear the belt all the time or my back muscles would get lazy and make things even worse. Best as I can tell, strengthening the abs is the best way to get rid of backaches. I've been tired and a bit dizzy on the new ABX to get on the BOSU but I can do some situps on the big ball.

I got up early, fed Simon, and promptly fell asleep after reading the newspaper. I slept deeply and long last night but in the mornings, with these pills, I'm just limp as a noodle. By a little later on, I start feeling better. I have two more closets in which I need to do just a few organizational adjustments. Tomorrow, I can do the normal cleaning. Normally, I wouldn't feel right about doing closets when the rest of the condo needs cleaning but this time, I decided to turn things around. Was in a tired old rut.

One of my neighbors had triple bypass surgery and she is doing well. I put a prayer in our prayerbox for her. Soooo many of our prayers have been answered positively. Sometimes, I think, just a little extra touch of faith helps our prayers. I was going down to the recycle/dumpster area and I noticed the preacher across the street heading out in his car. I tapped on the window and asked if he would just say a little prayer for her. He put the car in park and held my hands and we prayed right there in the parking lot. What a sweet person he and his wife are.

Tomorrow, I have to go later in the afternoon to pick up the rest of my Rx as they didn't have enough on Fri. I will not get my morning dose so the one in the afternoon will have to do. I have found that when an expensive third-generation med comes out, the reps get the docs all excited about prescribing it. Then, the second-generation med sits on the pharmacy shelves so they don't order it anymore. My doc didn't want me to have to spend a fortune for the "latest 'n greatest" which is hardly better than the older one. Bless his heart.

Tues., I have my gyn/x-ray marathon in the morning and on Thurs., I pick up Barb and her daughter at the airport. She's straining at the yoke to get back here. If it were me, I think I'd enjoy being out of this heat for a while. The heat doesn't seem to bother her as it does the rest of us. The dog days of Aug. are the worst. Sept. can be as bad but sometimes, it starts to cool down ever so slightly. Still, we can be thankful for no hurricanes in FL this season (knocking on wood

Another day, another post. Got up Herxing but feeling so much better as those nasty little bugs leave my body. Because the pharmacy only supposedly had six capsules of my ABX, they ordered more but that was on Fri. so, instead of overnight, it was over the weekend. Also, instead of six capsules, there were only five. That means I got no dose this morning and will not be able to pick up the rest of the Rx until after 2:30 this afternoon. Oy! I took some AZO to help me til I can pick it up. AZO only covers the symptoms and does nothing to help clear up UTI's. Still, it does turn pee an interesting orange color.

I've been trying to clean a little bit at a time as my NRG allows. Got some more drawers cleaned out and organized. Also, I vacuumed and cleaned the tile floors. My back aches and I'm wearing my back brace with ice under it. Tomorrow, when I get back from the doc, I'll dust and finish cleaning the baths. Wed., I'm going to clean the Balcony because Barb arrives on Thurs. Those nasty crows have crapped all over when they come to steal the cats' food. I have to talk to the cats' "baby daddy," Jeff, to see whether he has any more ideas to get rid of the crows and blue jays. He is a park ranger. A crow scout was out front this morning so I brought the cats' bowl inside.

I'm happy that I'm up to cleaning as it depresses me when the condo needs cleaning. I'm not anal about it but like a shining clean kitchen and baths. I need to look into some of the containers in my big walk-in in the front bedroom/office. I just cleaned it out but need some kind of itemization of what's where. I always think I'll remember and then, a week later, I'm lost. I won't clean the lanai until it's cooler out. I don't use it during really hot weather.

I did put up my fall wreath on the front door. It's almost Sept. It's beautiful, lush with fall leaves, berries and miniature pumpkins. They sold one on QVC like it for $50. I put this one together for about $20. That was years ago and it still looks great. Don't know how much fall decorating I'll do this year. Usually, I love to decorate because it lasts from now til Thanksgiving. Then, up goes the Christmas stuff. I don't do nearly what I used to. No room for a tree in this little condo.

Wondering what to get DGS for Christmas. He has everything. He opens his presents, plays with them for a while, and into the toybox they go, never to be seen again. Last year, I got him his Kindle Fire and for his birthday, an Amazon gift card. He likes science so I think I'll make a trip to Kids R Us and check out the science kits. Rocks are his big thing. I'm not sure he's old enough for a rock tumbler. I'm not sure my DD and DSIL would like him to have one. I'll have to talk to them. Andy wanted to Skype this last weekend but I let the kids know I was pretty sick off and on.

Hope everyone else has more exciting things going on. I pray my ABX come in today at the pharmacy. If not, I'm going to storm the doc's office to get a written Rx and start looking around for a pharmacy which has it. I think we are going to be seeing more and more of this as pharmacies try to keep inventory down and only carry the often-prescribed Rx's. Even then, they won't order til the shelves are empty.

We must have been posting at the same time. I'm glad you are feeling better. I might be a bit creative if I could ever feel well enough to try. As it is, I have to use what NRG I have just to keep the condo up. Whine, whine, whine!

I'd also like to use my new BOSU ball but it's not the time to be using one when I'm not well. Sometimes, though, I just stand on it and try to keep from falling off. Supposed to be good for the core. Well, my core certainly needs some work to help my back pain.

It's in the 80s here in Los Angeles. Zippy is outside hiding under a table with orchids on it. He was inside
on the sofa with me for a couple hours. I put him outside for a potty break, carefully explaining he could
come back in. He went back to his flower bower. Well, what could I do? I'm an old man with a
bad back. No way I'm picking up an 18 pound dog.

He is a rugged he dog. In the winter, even when the temps dip into the low 40s, he wants to stay
outside. I do provide him with velvet blankies, both under and on top.

Saw part of an old movie called "The Model and the Marriage Broker". Starred Thelma Ritter,
Jeanne Crain and Scott Brady. Ritter was a great actress. Crain and Brady were gorgeous.

Was listening to an old recording last night. It was an opera broadcast in Italy over 60 years ago.
Modern science and technology have made the sound as good as if it had been recorded in a
studio. We live in amazing times.

George M Cohan wrote a song called, "Always Leave 'em Laughing When you Say Goodbye."
So here are some laughable bumper stickers:

Got an e-mail from Spacee. It was soooo good to hear from her. She is doing OK. She said I could let y'all know I had heard from her because everyone was worried and missed her. She may be in town and if we can squeeze it in, we'll try to have lunch together.

Funny thing, I was just thinking about Thelma Ritter the other day. She way in so many movies as a character actress but was a fine actress in her own right. I loved her salty, dry sense of humor. She was great in "Rear Window," one of my favorite movies. Some movies, I can watch over and over. This is one of them. I think Rhea Pearlman is almost a dead ringer (no pun intended) for her. She was Carla in "Cheers." She is a great comedienne.

Finally got the rest of my ABX for my UTI yesterday afternoon. I missed the morning dose but took a capsule right there at the pharmacy. The pharmacy tech at that Target is such a sweetheart. Yesterday morning, I was Herxing so I know there is a big dieoff of bacteria. Yea!

This morning is my free grope at the gyno. Don't laugh; it's the only action I get I think I mentioned that they have the x-ray machines to do the bone density test for hips and spine and the mammogram too. One-stop shopping. I think I also mentioned that I'll be taking my water and my Kindle with me. I'm actually looking forward to getting this out of the way. Sept. is teeth cleaning and Oct. is eye exam. Then, I think I can ride it out for a while. I think I'm due for my colonoscopy this winter though. It's always something. I figure that I've had enough problems so I should probably do all the preventive things. It was actually my eye doc who found the Sjogren's.

Got floors done yesterday and my back was paying the price. What is it about pushing a vacuum or floor cleaner which is so hard on one's back? I wore the back brace with ice packs in it. When I get home today, I finish cleaning the baths and dust. The condo will be clean. TADA! Tomorrow I'll need the back brace again. I'm going out to clean the looooong Balcony. I first have to sweep the cobwebs from the ceiling. Then, I take hot water and Mr. Clean liquid and swish it around with my broom. I have to rinse it off. Already gave notice to the nice people downstairs that water would be pouring down on Wed.

Thurs., I pick Barb and her daughter up from the airport. I'm glad her daughter is coming because Barb packs a huge suitcase which I can barely lift. Her daughter is young and strong. It was all I could do to lift the suitcase by myself when I took her to the airport. The gold foil stars are still up from my futile attempt to scare the crows away. I'm going to tell Barb that we decorated for her homecoming She'll see right through that and yell an obscenity which starts with "bull." Either that, or she'll call me an ass but with her Boston accent, it'll sound like aaahs.

Well, got a busy day ahead. Glad I showered and did my hair yesterday. All I have to do is take a nice soak to get ready for the doc. I can't use deodorant or lotion because of the mammo so will try not to sweat. Had it been yesterday when I was Herxing... I hate to think. Herxing causes me to sweat and it stinks.

Why is everyone up in arms at Miley Cyrus' sexual dance at the MTV awards? MTV and the Grammy Awards have always been freak shows. Will Smith and his wife should have known better than to take their kids. That doesn't make it right or tasteful but it shouldn't have shocked anyone.

Hi Mikie, Wow! You heard from Spacee. I'm so glad to hear that. I thought maybethe big wind blew her to Oz or Never never land. I hope she feels well enough to
come back and post sometime.

See how this font acts. I didn't understand the explanation of why it acts all goofy. And I
don't understand how to make it behave.

Yes, Thelma Ritter was wonderful in Rear Window. I think that film and Psycho were Hitchcock's
scariest movies. As for Rhea Pearlman, she shows up in the crosswords. It helps if you have a
4-letter name. Both of Alan Alda's names show up. Brad Pitt might make the crosswords. No
chance for Ashton Kutcher.

Be nice to see your friend again. What is it she is going to yell? Bull: Run; market; terrier;
shark?

Rock, do you use a laptop? If so, all it takes is to let your fingers drift to the font area and it can reset it. If you look at the little font box, it will tell you the font and size you are using. If it changes, you can just go back up and correct it. Otherwise, all I can say is that your computer is likely possessed. Perhaps you can get on that paranormal TV show.

Well, I got back from my trifecta exam extravaganza and lived to tell about it. I've been groped, probed and scanned but that's probably TMI. So far, everything looks good but I won't get the results of the mammo and Dexa for about a week. Hope there's no more bone loss. Also hope nothing on mammo except what is supposed to be there. My appt. was at 9:30 and I was a bit early. I was done with everything by 10:30. It helps to have everything in one office.

Stopped at Publix for "just a few things" and got almost $70 in groceries. Still, I got a lot of good stuff. The King of The West honeydew melons are still in season and are delicious this year. I got a coconut custard pie. I just won't eat the crust. What little cross contamination from it probably won't hurt me.

Gotta get busy cleaning and dusting around here this afternoon. I believe the ABX are finally working well and I'm feeling so much better.

Ooh, ooh, almost forgot--watched "Life of Pi" on HBO. I don't know how to describe it except as a fantasy beautifully photographed. It's a story of survival but at the end, there are two explanations of what really happened and it's up to the individual to decide which really did happen. I recommend it as pure escapism. I think escapism is highly underrated.

Hi to everyone,
So much going on here the last few days and not a whole lot of time to post. Just wanted to get on here for a bit and tell you sorry I haven't been on much lately.

DH is calling me again. We went to the doc and thought it was a UTI but it came back negative.. He gave him a script anyway. So we will see.

Mikie - Hope you are finally felling better with your URI.

Diane - sorry you still are fussing with all of your mess. Feel better soon.

Posted some problems on the Porch but don't want to go over it all again. So go there if you want to read. Hope to be back later or tomorrow. Will be gone tomorrow late morning early afternoon for lunch.

Hi, Granni, I'm glad you don't have a UTI (or was it your DH?). Actually, it's not a URI I have; it's a UTI. It's Klebsiella, a very nasty bacterium.

Got the condo sparkling clean and afterward, just walked from room to room, enjoying it. I gave thanks for everything I have, including my little tree house home. There are two teenage squirrels who are so acrobatic in the two slash pines outside my lanai. They are after the pinecones which are at just the right size for a nice squirrel dinner. Well, those two are better than anything on TV.

This morning, before it gets so gawd awful hot, I will clean the Balcony. I pick Barb and her daughter up tomorrow from the airport. We will probably go to lunch on the way home. I have to go over and plug in her hot water heater so she will have hot water when she gets here. Cleaning that long balcony is an ordeal but I look forward to its being all cleaned up. I'm just thankful the ABX are working and I have some NRG.

I woke at 4:00 and decided to just get up. I'll probably take a nap after I clean the Balcony. Simon wasn't here yet but he must sleep close by when he's not sleeping in my chair. I think he hears the door when I open it to check and then comes and sits or lies on the step til I check again. It always makes my heart leap to see his sweet little face peering up at me. I talk to him for a minute before I take his food out. I'm hoping Barb will put his breakfast out for him when I'm in CO in Dec. I'll only be gone four days so she will only have to do it three times. She's an early riser too and often mentions seeing Simon when she looks out her window.

My neighbor downstairs in VA made it through her triple bypass OK. She's out of CICU but still in the hospital. I got a miniature pot of flowers and a card for the preacher across the street who prayed with me for her. He and his wife are so kind.

Well, Kids, that's about it from here. No excitement is OK with me. I'm a no drama mamma. Everyone, have a blessed day.

Just got an update on my neighbor. She's back in CICU. She's not recovering as well as she should be. She's a frail woman in her 80's. Finally, they got her sitting in a chair. She's covered in bruises. Her husband is hoping she'll be able to come down in Jan. but my guess is that she may not want to make the trip.

I did get the Balcony clean. It took more than one large (regular large with bonus ounces) bottle of Mr. Clean liquid cleaner to get all the bird crap and other stains off of it. We have a messy Cachia tree which loses leaves down near the center of the bldg. It left stains where the leaves have lain in the rain. I also did the top railing as it gets filthy with black mold from all the rain we've had. There is green mildew on the upright parts of the railing. I was too exhausted to address that. It'll have to wait for another day. We're still in our rainy season so any effort is probably in vain.

I was exhausted and had to wear my back brace with ice packs in it. I'm glad I got it done in the morning because we had a thunderstorm from hell in the afternoon. Tweety came in and stayed. Finally, in the evening when the rain had stopped, I had to put her out. Daddy Jeff worries about her if she isn't there to greet him when he gets home from work. She loves being inside in the A/C. She cuddled up on my bed when I decided to move to the bedroom.

I need to shower and get ready later on to go get Barb at the airport. I'm glad I got the Balcony cleaned because she loves sitting out there and she hates it when it's dirty. I tried to care for her orchid but it's looking a bit shabby.

Can't believe how hot it is in parts of the rest of the country. It's hotter in Denver than it is here. We have these loooooong hot summers but, at least, the temps are almost the same every day, low 90's during the day and 70's at night. It's those pesky hurricanes which we have to watch out for. So far (knocking on wood) we've been lucky this year. Aug. and Sept. are usually our worst months. Hurricane Season won't be over until the end of Nov. This heat will likely linger til Halloween.

Sun. is my Mom's birthday. She would have been 104. She's been gone 11 years already. I still miss her every day. As sad as we are to lose our loved ones here, I believe there is great celebration in Heaven when loved ones go Home.

"Morning Joe" is broadcasting live from Detroit this morning. They just showed a taped segment on the old Packards. There is one man who owns more than 100 of them, all mint original or restored. He has the last one which came off the assembly and was formerly owned by Gene Autry. Thank God for people of means who restore and preserve our past. If I were filthy rich, I'd restore old airplanes, cars and boats. Remember the Criscraft wood boats with the Chevy inboard engines? They were really something. Fiberglass may need less maintenance but it just doesn't have the feel of those old wood boats. I remember riding in the Criscrafts and hearing the motors going, "Glug, glug."

Haven't been to the Porch lately. Is everyone over there? We are dropping to the bottom here. Where are our Loungers?

Mikie: So sorry to read about your little elderly neighbor having to be put back in hospital. It's so hard on them when they get up there in age and I'm sure everyone is worried about her.

My mom would have been 105 on sept l6. She's been gone for 6 years now and I think about her almost daily and wish I could talk to her.

Rock: poor old zippy, but he's lucky he's got you to watch over him. Nope, no picking up his l8 lbs. How are you doing wearing the back brace? Give it a thought about buying some gel packs to put into the freezer and then tucking one behind your back brace. I'm like Mikie, and have to wear ice on my neck and back almost daily otherwise the pain gets out of hand.

Hi everyone. It's been hot in so. calif too. Low 100s. Our air condition unit is having problems, again. Twice in July we had the repair man out and they're coming again this afternoon. July l8 it was up on the 10 year warranty. Figures. It keeps blowing the circuit breaker even though we paid for a booster to be installed. Darn, darn, double darn.

Yup, SG. It's gonna be hot today. NINETY! Uff-da! Your mom lived to be 99? Boy, she sure saw
some changes in her lifetime. James Burke (historian, author and TV producer) said whole centuries
used to go by without much change I'm afraid some very big changes are just around the corner for
our country. And not for the better.

Mikie, you're nostalgic about glug glug? LOL Sounds ominous to me. I'd think the boat was gonna
sink. I was only on the ocean one time. About 40 years ago. Took an 8 hour cruise on a clipper ship.
Clipper ships were sail boats that hauled freight in the 19th century. Built for speed.

The one I was on was a replica. It was formerly owned by Jimmy Cagney who sailed it in the
l930s and 40s. Anyhoo, I was sea sick before we got outta the harbor. All 4 members of our party
were miserable. The heavily laden picnic basket was never even opened.

In response to your question, No, I don't use a laptop. To me a laptop is an afghan.

Is it hotter in Texas today than in CA, Granni? I remember driving through Texas when traveling
from CA to MN way back around 1970. Had the company car which had air conditioning. As
soon as we hit the West boarder of Texas the air conditioner failed and didn't heal up till we were
in Kansas.

Is your virus gone, Diane? I'm impressed if you can crochet. Gordon can crochet and he does
beautiful knitting. He tried to teach me decades ago. He found it hard to believe that anybody
could be so clumsy and uncoordinated. He does less needle work now than he did years ago, but he did
make an elegant grey afghan last winter.

I was able to move the car once this week. Have to move again it this afternoon. To add to this
annoying situation, a film crew is supposed to be in the neighborhood for the next couple days.
They usually have 6 to a dozen trailers, semis, cars, trucks, ad nauseum. They often take up an
entire block of parking for 2-5 days. The city collects a fee for the filming permit, but the folks
who live here get nothing.

Except now and then. A couple years ago a film crew had so many vehicles they paid my neighbor
to let them park in his driveway. He had a big driveway. Collected several hundred bucks for
a 4 day period.

If my back were healthier, maybe I could start up a portable lemonade stand and make some money.
Nah, that won't work. They have catering trucks. Well, maybe I could rent some kids to set up and
old fashioned...oh well, it's too hot to think about working anyway.

Hi, Kids,Sunflower Girl, I'm sorry about your Mom. I talk to mine all the time but it surely isn't the same as having her here. Thanks for your kind words about my neighbor. She'll be OK but I know it's going to be a long haul for her. Still, without the surgery, she would have died.

Rock, sorry about your sea sickedness. I've never had motion sickness even when I flew a plane almost upside down (120 degrees) and did roller coaster moves to make the Kleenex in my hand weightless. It's like how NASA trains astronauts to experience weightlessness. When I went over the top, the Kleenex would float above my hand and gently come back down when I put it into a dive. Fun times! I did get sick from just riding in my ex's Ford company car. Never happened with any of his other cars. Just that one.

BTW, the term, "Flying by the seat of your pants," was derived from the feeling of gravity in one's seat when experiencing G forces. It's a bad turn when a pilot feels any gravity on one side. One learns to use the rudder to eliminate that when making turns. Just a wee bit of trivia cause I know how much you like it.

Diane, everyone loves your games. It's up to us to keep up our other posts. Thanks for the bumpy bump

Rock: I think it depends on the size of the boat and how high the waves are. To bad you're got some bad memories. I'm in the middle of watching A Summer Place and the kids just got rescued after being capsized in Maine......I'll finish watching it tonight. It looks more like Monterey, calif. with the cypress trees where they shot it though. I've always wanted to see Maine. Seems like there's a lot of new novels set up there......what's up with that?

That's cool (I guess) about a movie or TV episode being shot near you. Have you found out what it is? Yes.....a lemonaid stand! With spiked lemonaid!

Years ago the film Forever Young with Mel Gibson was shot near us. My youngest was in HS and his friend owned an old vintage car. He bugged the powers that be for them to hire him to drive his car in the movie. So come shooting day my son and his friend went to the set. I was down there at a distance, talked the local policeman into letting me onto the set at their lunch break to take photos. So at noon I went back, and there was my son and his friend in costume at the lunch truck. Well....that gave me an opportunity. I said my son was under age so they let me hang out on the set. I was a spitting distance from Mel! When the movie came out my son's closeup crowd scene ended up on the cutting floor.

The first sea trip I took was an overnight on a small ship from England to Holland. I LOVED it. Woke up early in the morning and went out to see what was happening. I remember cargo was being unloaded and as I stood on the deck the workmen started singing to me. That was sooo cool. I've also taken some cruises. My DD and I went from New Orleans down to Mexico and back. That was a smaller vessel and it reacted to every wave there was sending everyone sliding across the floors as we walked. Husband and I went several times to Mexico and the Carribean also.

Mikie: You managed to give me the feeling of being ill just READING about your flying.....you daredevil! How long did you fly? And I'm really envious of your Crist craft adventures. Those were really spectacular boats.

Diane: So happy to see you're feeling better. So nice of you to do all those games.

Not much going on here. It's hot, and Gordon is suffering. It annoys him that the heat bothers me
less. Sorry, Dude. It is what it is.

That last sentence is true. It is a tautology, and all tautologies are true.

Mikie, "Seat of the pants" is also a bridge term. When one plays with a new partner, there is always
a preliminary discussion about which system and what bids will be used. But some folks don't want
to bother. They just say, "Oh, I bid Seat of the Pants."

It also reminds me of earthquake territory wherein one of I live, Ha Ha! We have earthquakes every
day, but most are to small to detect without electronic equipment. Anyhoo, whenever there's a tremor,
someone at the office is sure to turn around and inquire, "What did that measure on your butt-o-meter?"

SG, never saw "A Summer Place". I may have read the book. Can't remember the author's name,
but he had another bestseller around that time. Max Steiner wrote the music. I had the album.
Max wrote the music for lots of movies including GWTW, King Kong, Now, Voyager, and So Big.
There was a great song from "So Big" though the lyrics were kinda lame.

Sunflower Girl, I used to work at an aviation company which printed the charts the pilots use all over the world for navigating in and out of airports. My uncle, who later turned out to be my stepdad (long story) gave me my first ride in his plane when I was two. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to fly. Working at the aviation company gave me the opportunity to get my pilots license. I only flew for a couple of years because I wanted to go back to college and couldn't afford to do both. Getting my license was a bucket list kind of thing. One of my daughters has her license, she is married to an airline pilot and his Dad is also an airline pilot, ret. I sometimes think these things are in our DNA.

We had an amusement park outside of Denver which was on a lake. Back then, you could take rides in those old Criscraft boats. My ex and I loved going out in one on the lake at night. Very romantic, glug glug and all

Rock, yes, "seat of your pants" is used in many contexts to mean doing things by the feel of it or some other method. Still, it originated with aviation because you can actually feel G forces in the seat of your pants. I don't know where "off the cuff" came from. Perhaps you know. Hmmmm, butt-o-meter! Sounds as though having a sensitive butt might come in handy. Sometimes those little tremors are omens of bigger things to come.

I loved "Summer Place" and the song. I think I mentioned that in Boulder, we all hung out at a beer joint named, The Timber Tavern. It's a legend. We could drink 3.2 beer at 18. "Summer Place" stayed on the juke box and was never taken off. We loved slow dancing to it.

Well, Barb and DD made it home safe and sound. She was fit to be tied this morning because she can't get her new modem and Wi-Fi to work with her Vonage phone. They are off on an errand and I will take a look-see when they get home. Comcast recently upgraded their equipment and no longer support old modems so she had to go out and buy a new one. I did that a year ago. Don't know that I can help but another set of eyes won't hurt.

She brought me a beautiful necklace. It's so hard to describe but it looks like a brushed gold teardrop with Marcasite crystals inside the curved teardrop. There is a little gold flower which kinda floats on top of it. Very unusual. That was so nice of her. I'm already thinking of what I will bring back from Denver for her.

This is the break in the heat and humidity I always look for this time of year. It's been really hot and humid with thunderstorms until yesterday. Now, the chance of rain is only 20 percent for the foreseeable future. I sat out with my coffee for a bit but both cats came by and I came inside to give them their food, milk, catnip mousies and some much-needed grooming, at least, for Sylvester. I think I mentioned that he hangs out under the cars to get out of the heat. His white belly is light brown. At least, it wasn't matted. I brushed him till his black coat shone. Of course, I had to brush Tweety's short white fur too. Fair is fair. I gave them each some treats and sent them off for whatever adventure lies ahead for them.

I got up early and, as usual, fed Simon. I was tired and went back to bed. Big mistake! The possum must have come by and finished the bowl of food. I had to bring it inside and wash the bowl. I am no longer putting Tweety's and Sylvester's bowl outside. A crow scout and a blue jay scout came by looking for it. I shooed them away. From now on, we will be outside more and the food won't be so maybe, the nasty birds will go away. I'm afraid that once they take over an area, they are here to stay. They've driven our beloved small birds away.

My computer just went down and I thought I'd lost everything. But, I wiggled the cord and it resumed. Whew! Close call. The wires in the power cord must be worn and don't always keep the battery working. I usually check but didn't.